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Landlord and tenant – Reformation – Mutual mistake
Where a plaintiff has moved to amend its complaint in a suit over a commercial lease, the plaintiff should be granted leave to submit a further revised complaint regarding a claim for reformation based on mutual mistake.
Damages – Attorneys’ fees – Chapter 93A
Where a plaintiff prevailed on claims of breach of contract and violation of G.L.c. 93A, the defendant should be ordered to pay fees and costs in the amount of $4,493,594.20 despite the defendant’s argument that the plaintiff is contractually barred from recovering fees and costs under G.L.c. 93A, §11.
Insurance – Common interest – Reservation of rights
Where (1) an insurance company that agreed to defend the town of Braintree subject to a reservation of rights moved to compel the town to turn over discovery from attorneys that the insurer hired to defend the town and (2) the town has withheld the documents under the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine, the insurer’s motion to compel should be allowed, as the common interest doc[...]
Attorneys – ‘At issue’ waiver of privilege
Where (1) plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that they reasonably relied on negligent tax consulting services by the defendant and as a result they incurred damages of almost $5 million, (2) the defendant has asserted that the plaintiffs filed the case outside the statute of limitations, (3) in response, the plaintiffs have invoked the discovery rule, and (4) the defendant now moves to compel p[...]
Employment – Contractual liability
Where a defendant employer has moved to dismiss a breach of contract count in a plaintiff’s complaint, the motion should be denied because issues exist regarding whether alleged contractual modifications are unsupported by consideration and whether oral evidence is precluded by integration clauses.
Contract – Misrepresentation
Where a complaint has been filed over the conveyance of a leasehold interest in commercial property, the plaintiff cannot prove a breach of contract or any actionable fraud, so the defendants should be awarded summary judgment.
Contract – Stock options – Corporate advisor
Where a defendant corporation has been sued by a plaintiff who performed services without pay, his claims for breach of contract and quantum meruit should not be dismissed, as the plaintiff has plausibly alleged that he remained in continuous service to the defendant.
Contract – Development rights – Clinical trials
Where a plaintiff sold its rights to develop and commercialize an immune system compound that was then in Phase I clinical trials, the defendant purchaser’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint should be denied because the plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that the defendant breached the parties’ agreement as well as the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by failing to d[...]
Education – Tenure
Where a plaintiff has moved to amend her complaint against the defendant university, that motion should be allowed because it would not be futile to add a claim that the university breached its policy on tenure clock extension.
‘Prior knowledge’ clause bars legal malpractice action
A Superior Court judge ruled an attorney’s malpractice policy did not cover a claim due to prior knowledge and conflict of interest in a noncompete dispute.
Civil practice – Interrogatories
Where a defendant has moved to compel the plaintiff to answer his interrogatories, that motion should be allowed because the defendant is entitled to accurate and fully responsive answers.
Municipal – Real estate development – Certiorari
Where plaintiffs have requested certiorari review of a decision by the Boston Planning and Development Agency to allow construction of a multi-unit residential building in Dorchester, the plaintiffs’ claims fail as a matter of law because they were not brought within the 30-day statutory period allowed for seeking judicial review.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
